Antler (venture capital firm)

Last updated

Antler Innovation Pte Ltd
Company type Private
Industry Venture Capital
Founded2017;8 years ago (2017)
FounderMagnus Grimeland
Headquarters Singapore
Products Business incubator
Startup accelerator
AUM US$500 million (2022)
Website www.antler.co
Footnotes /references
[1] [2]

Antler is an early-stage venture capital firm founded in 2017, headquartered in Singapore. The firm is present in over 30 cities and has made over 1,500 investments in early-stage companies. [3]

Contents

In 2024, it topped the "Most Active Venture Capital Globally" category in PitchBook's Annual Global League Table, with 443 deals. [4]

Background

In 2017, Magnus Grimeland founded Antler in Singapore. [2] [5] [6] Grimeland, a graduate of Harvard College previously worked at McKinsey & Company and then worked with Rocket Internet to co-found Zalora Group. [2] [5] Later on, Zalora Group became part of Global Fashion Group where Grimeland became its COO. [2] [5] During his time there, he noticed how technology workers were in jobs that weren't fully using their talents and left them to start their own businesses. [2] [5] Grimeland founded Antler to help such workers. [2] [5]

Model

Antler runs a combined incubator and accelerator program that lasts for several months and has two phases. [2] [5] [6] [7] The Antler "Residency" helps entrepreneurs find co-founders and teams to help develop their business idea, and invests in the startups that are thereby generated. [2] [5] [7] [8] The first program was launched in Singapore in 2018 where 1,400 people applied, 62 were accepted and at the end, 13 companies were selected. [2] Antler has been described as a firm famous for convincing founders to quit their day jobs and enroll in an intensive residency program. [9]

In 2019, Antler launched in Australia with a first Australian funded invested in over 100 early-stage companies. In October 2024, a second fund was launched raising more money than initially targeted despite a challenging environment for fundraising. [9]

While Antler is focused on investing in companies during their early stage phase, in 2021, it stated that it was considering extending to later stages, funding companies up to Series C, [6] and in 2023, Antler raised a $285m fund to invest in later stages.

As of May 2022, Antler has invested in over 450 startup companies. [2] One in eight of Antler's investments have failed. Antler has invested in two Unicorns, Airalo [10] [11] and Lovable [12] , and has made several notable exits, [13] [14] [15] with some portfolio companies generating substantial returns. [16]

At the start of 2024, Antler stated it would be increasing investments in more evolved companies. [17]

Investors of Antler include individuals such as Eduardo Saverin and Christen Sveaas as well as institutions such as Canica, Credit Saison, International Finance Corporation, Schroders, Vækstfonden and Phoenix Group. [2] [5] [6]

Antler has offices in Asia-Pacific, Europe and North America. [2] [5] Offices were opened in Nairobi, Kenya and in Sao Paulo, Brazil in 2019 and 2022 respectively. [18] [19]

References

  1. ↑ "Form ADV" (PDF). SEC. Archived (PDF) from the original on 27 December 2022. Retrieved 27 December 2022.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Dowd, Kevin. "Meet Mark Zuckerberg's Harvard Classmate Who Is Trying To Build A Global Startup Factory". Forbes. Archived from the original on 12 October 2022. Retrieved 27 December 2022.
  3. ↑ Basheer, Shabin (24 April 2025). "Dubai's Antler 2nd Residency Selects 96 Founders from Over 10,000 Applicants Representing 39 Nationalities". Dubai Future Foundation. Retrieved 6 September 2025.
  4. ↑ "Global league tables: 2022 Annual | PitchBook". pitchbook.com. Archived from the original on 25 March 2023. Retrieved 19 May 2023.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 O'Hear, Steve (6 January 2020). "Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin backs 'startup generator' Antler". TechCrunch. Archived from the original on 27 December 2022. Retrieved 27 December 2022.
  6. 1 2 3 4 Butcher, Mike (13 October 2021). "Company-builder VC Antler says it can back startups to Series C, but what are its terms?". TechCrunch. Archived from the original on 27 December 2022. Retrieved 27 December 2022.
  7. 1 2 "Antler and NUS launch Executive Programme to create successful Deep Tech Ventures – NUS GRIP: NUS Graduate Research Innovation Programme". Archived from the original on 27 December 2022. Retrieved 27 December 2022.
  8. ↑ "Antler - US". www.antler.co. Archived from the original on 9 November 2023. Retrieved 25 October 2023.
  9. 1 2 Bennett, Tess (6 October 2024). "VC firm Antler exceeds target for second Australian fund". Australian Financial Review. Retrieved 2 January 2025.
  10. ↑ Crowley, Amy-Jo (10 July 2025). "CVC invests in Singaporean tech company Airalo at $1 billion-plus valuation". Reuters. Retrieved 6 September 2025.
  11. ↑ "Tech in Asia - Connecting Asia's startup ecosystem". www.techinasia.com. Retrieved 6 September 2025.
  12. ↑ "Dealroom.co | Lovable company information, funding & investors". Dealroom.co. 1 October 2023. Retrieved 6 September 2025.
  13. ↑ "[Updated] India's BetterPlace marks first overseas acquisition with Indonesian job portal MyRobin". DealStreetAsia. Archived from the original on 14 November 2023. Retrieved 14 November 2023.
  14. ↑ Daso, Frederick. "SuperOrdinary Acquires Fanfix, Proving The Creator Economy Is Here To Stay". Forbes. Archived from the original on 14 November 2023. Retrieved 14 November 2023.
  15. ↑ "Fanfix Founders Made Millions on an App They Built in College". Observer. 7 June 2023. Archived from the original on 14 November 2023. Retrieved 14 November 2023.
  16. ↑ "Press Release: Airalo Raises $60M in Series B Financing". Airalo. Archived from the original on 14 November 2023. Retrieved 14 November 2023.
  17. ↑ MAHESHWARI, AASTHA (23 January 2024). "Singapore-based Antler to focus on more evolved startups in 2024". Nikkei Asia. Retrieved 23 December 2024.
  18. ↑ "Singapore-based venture capital fund Antler launches the first office in Brazil". LABS English. Archived from the original on 27 December 2022. Retrieved 27 December 2022.
  19. ↑ Kene-Okafor, Tage (10 March 2022). "Antler East Africa closes $13.5M fund to invest in early-stage startups". TechCrunch. Archived from the original on 27 December 2022. Retrieved 27 December 2022.
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